Recruiting Scams: How to Stay Safe Against This Growing Threat

Insight Global has witnessed significant change in the staffing industry during the past 20+ years. While the advent of remote work has transformed the workplace, it’s also introduced a new era of recruiting scams.

Let’s dive into recruitment scams and some strategies to protect yourself during your job search.

What is a Recruiting Scam?

A recruiting scam occurs when a bad actor poses as a legitimate recruiter or employer to deceive job seekers. These bad actors often masquerade as real recruiters and claim to work for reputable companies. Their goal is to steal personal information, money, or both from unsuspecting job seekers.

According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), job scams are on the rise. In Q1 of 2023, losses reported to BBB hit $840,000, up over 250% compared to Q1 2022.

The Best Way to Verify Recruiters

Let’s set the stage: You’ve just received an email, a LinkedIn message, a text message, or a phone call from a recruiter about a job opportunity. Nothing about the recruiter’s message raises alarm, and the job aligns with your expertise and salary expectations.

How can you verify the recruiter? We walk through several strategies below.

Visit the Company Website

First, keep in mind that bad actors sometimes include links to imposter websites in their communications. That’s why you want to find the genuine website using a search engine and compare the web addresses. If you find a mismatch, that’s a strong sign of a recruitment scam. Some companies, however, do have separate websites specifically for careers. To rule that out, look for career information on the main website and see if a different website appears.

If a recruiter has not provided a company website link, you can still use the official website to find information that will help you verify the recruiter.

• Staff directory: Look for the recruiter’s name and contact information. Large companies are unable to list all employees, but this is a good place to start.
• Job listings: Look for the job ad mentioned by the recruiter. If an internal recruiter has contacted you, the job should be posted online. If, however, an agency recruiter has contacted you, it’s possible the job isn’t listed, even though it’s legitimate.
• Social media: Most businesses are on LinkedIn and other social media platforms. Look for the official links on their website. Many companies post their job openings to their LinkedIn company page.
• Contact page: Find a phone number, email address, or contact form that allows you to contact the business directly. You can confirm that an Insight Global recruiter is legitimate by contacting us at [email protected].
• Consumer alerts: If companies know they’ve been impersonated, they may share that information on their website.

There is another way to verify a recruiter who contacted you via email.

Confirm the Email is from the Company Domain

When you receive an email, regardless of your email provider, the top of the email indicates who sent the email and who received the email. The first thing to check is the domain name, meaning the information that appears after the “@” symbol. A legitimate recruiter will have a company email address that matches the company’s website domain. For example, Insight Global recruiters have an email address that ends with “@insightglobal.com.”

That said, be aware of spoof email domains. It is possible to use a false “display name” that looks like a company email address. A display name is the name that appears next to the sender but is not actually the email account used to send the email. For instance, the name “John Smith” might display in your Outlook for the email address “[email protected].”

Some bad actors manipulate the display name to give the appearance that the email is legitimate. For instance, if a bad actor wanted to impersonate our friend John Smith, the bad actor might change the display name to “[email protected],” but the actual email might have come from “[email protected].”

Luckily, you can confirm whether the actual email address is authentic.

To do so, take your mouse and place the cursor over the display name. Hover there (don’t click). The actual email address will appear. If they match, the email may be authentic, but be on the lookout for instances in which the letter i, particularly an upper-case i, has been used instead of a lower-case L. It takes a discerning eye to tell the difference, particularly in certain fonts. Compare this lower-case l to an upper-case I.

How to Report a Scam Recruiter

If you suspect a scam recruiter, there are a few things you can do.

First, contact the company itself and let them know someone is impersonating its employees. Insight Global has set up an email to receive these reports: [email protected]

Then, report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the BBB, your state attorney general, and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

If the scammer used a social media platform to contact you, report the scammer to that platform.

Finally, block the scammer so they can’t contact you anymore.

The Benefits of Working with Insight Global

At Insight Global, one of our shared values is everyone matters. That includes our people, our clients, our consultants, and job seekers like you.

We don’t want anyone to fall victim to the various job scams that plague the industry. If you believe a scam recruiter has contacted you, please let us know. We can help. You can contact us at [email protected] to verify if a recruiter is legitimate, or you can report a scam recruiter to [email protected]

And if you’re interested in working with Insight Global, we want to hear from you too.

We are an award-winning staffing agency that cares about creating a good candidate experience. Whether you join Insight Global as a consultant or as part of our in-house team, you become family. Here’s a quick look at our numbers that showcase our commitment to care.

• 91% consultant satisfaction
• 62% NPS score (industry average is 30%)
• 390,000+ consultant alumni

But that’s only part of our story. Insight Global is a purpose-driven company that:

• Promotes from within (our CEO started as a recruiter!)
• Develops employees though IGU classes, workshops, and more
• Encourages networking through Employee Network Resource Groups (ENRGs)
• Offers paid time off to volunteer
• Supports multiple nonprofits
• Helps employees and consultants in need through the IG Family Foundation

Are you ready to pursue a career with Insight Global? Look for your next job opportunity by searching our job board or applying for an in-house position. We also post job ads to our LinkedIn page.